I remember a rash of "upgradable" PCs.

Post #20,603 by Andrew Grygus 12/7/01 12:23:45 AM Reply	I remember a rash of "upgradable" PCs. Great marketing ploy - until the users found out the "upgrade" cost as much as a new computer and wasn't as fast because of mother board limitations. I never heard of one actually being upgraded, but I did dismantle a few for parts and scrap. [link\|http://www.aaxnet.com\|AAx]
Post #20,609 by wharris2 12/7/01 2:34:04 AM Reply	Wasn't upgradable PC I had a Tandy 1000 and this card (I'm almost positive it was an 80286 card) was a LOT less expensive than a whole new computer. Something like $100 or $200, in the late 80's. At the time, a new computer would have run something like $3000. "Beware of bugs in the above code; I have only proved it correct, not tried it." -- Donald Knuth
Post #20,623 by nking 12/7/01 8:16:27 AM Reply	I remember it was like an 8 bit ISA slot with an 80286 or 80386 on the board. The motherboard bottlenecks slowed the system down so that it was slower than a real 286/386 system, but at least the Math calculations where faster so the accountants got happy that Lotus 123 calculated faster. ;) I always stuck to the custom build AT type case systems, that way I could swap out the motherboard and transplant the cards into the new motherboard. I did this to upgrade my 386 to a 486, then Pentium, then a new Mid-Tower AT case for the faster Pentium, then ATX when I went to a Celeron. If I upgrade my current system (possibly after landing that job and being employed for a year or two) I'll use the current ATX case and swap out the motherboard again. I got a little Pentium 166Mhz system I am building out of spare parts, but only have a 240M Quantm Prodrive LPS for it to use. Good enough for Windows 95. AT mid-tower case. After IBM came out with the PS/2 series, many PC makers started using intergrated motherboards and proprietary designs that are not as upgradeable as the customized AT/ATX designed systems of today and yesterday.
Post #20,653 by wharris2 12/7/01 12:08:50 PM Reply	It's been on-going After IBM came out with the PS/2 series, many PC makers started using intergrated motherboards and proprietary designs that are not as upgradeable as the customized AT/ATX designed systems of today and yesterday. That wasn't just after PS/2; Compaq long had a reputation for weird non-standard stuff. Shoot, for that matter the Tandy 1000 was a marvel of proprietory design that long predated the PS/2. "Beware of bugs in the above code; I have only proved it correct, not tried it." -- Donald Knuth
Post #20,691 by nking 12/7/01 4:18:18 PM Reply	Tandy 1000 series From what I can recall, they used the PCJr audio and video and then reversed the expansion slots and switched some interupts in Tandy's version of MS-DOS so it would only run on Tandy systems. It was like a total control that Tandy had on the PC systems they made. My wife has an old Tandy 1000 SL that her father had given to her over 10 years ago. As far as I know it still works, but hasn't been powered on in like 5 years. It has a 5.25" floppy and internal hard drive. I've kept it in the basement. It seems I have collected a lot of old/classic systems. I also have a Mac SE, Mac IIcx, Amiga 500, and the remains of a broken Amiga 1000 (minus the keyboard, internal floppy, and original monitor).
Post #20,753 by wharris2 12/7/01 10:30:21 PM Reply	History redux When was the Tandy 1000 and PC Jr? I thought the T1000 predated the Jr, but in my confused memory, I do remember a fellow college guy (who later went on to the NASA JPL) talking about his PC Jr. That pre-dates my acquisition of my Tandy 1000. Norm, I work with a guy who has stacks of old computers in a warehouse. He's got Kaypro's. He's got ozbournes. Actually, it would be better to list those computers he doesn't have. He regrets that he doesn't have a copy of Microsoft Bob. "Beware of bugs in the above code; I have only proved it correct, not tried it." -- Donald Knuth
Post #20,853 by nking 12/9/01 9:01:26 PM Reply	Is he selling any of them? If so, he may be able to move some of them if he listed them on online auction sites? But then it depends on how much he is selling them for, if over $100, you might as well pick up a cheap "Pentium 1" box for that much.
Post #20,914 by wharris2 12/10/01 1:39:58 PM Reply	That's not his purpose He's talked about setting up some sort of microcomputer museum, though that sounds like a pretty ambitious project. "Beware of bugs in the above code; I have only proved it correct, not tried it." -- Donald Knuth
Post #20,963 by nking 12/10/01 10:42:07 PM Reply	What is his purpose? He could make a lot of money selling to user groups for those older systems. I know there are local TI, Apple, Commodore, Atari, groups here that would love to get a supply of replacement parts for their systems. The Museum sounds cool, I thought of doing that myself once but decided it would be better to have a Cybercafe instead with a showcase of older computer systems and parts.
Post #21,013 by wharris2 12/11/01 12:51:44 PM Reply	What's money? He's near retirement age and (from what I can tell) is okay for money. Might as well have a hobby after retirement, I suppose. (He stops at almost every computer show or ham radio convention he passes, it seems; most of them, I've never heard of.) "Beware of bugs in the above code; I have only proved it correct, not tried it." -- Donald Knuth

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